


The Clue in the Laundry Chute

by GraceyWrites376



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 08:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10681626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraceyWrites376/pseuds/GraceyWrites376
Summary: There's been a kidnapping, and Sherlock's called in to help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I finally worked up the courage to post this! Hope you all enjoy it! Comments and Kudos are soooo appreciated, so let me know what you'd like to see more of. Thanks :)

“Sherlock! For the last time! There is a baby in this house so stop leaving your chemicals and body parts lying about!” cries Mrs. Hudson, prying a shriveled thumb from Rosie’s tiny hand. Sherlock looks up from his microscope for a brief moment.  
“Hm? Put that down.” He sighs. “That was a new one from the morgue yesterday! Really I’d better make a note of that shriveling and such,” he says to no one in particular and turns back to his work.  
“Sherlock,”John says from across the room. “Where did you even get that from? Did you just ‘confiscate’ it from the morgue or did Molly actually give it to you?”  
“That’s a stupid question. Even stupider than knowing that...that...thing about the solar system. There are more important things to be thinking and noticing. For instance, knowing that someone of incredible importance to the British government, and of annoying closeness to me is outside my door. Hello, Mycroft.” Mycroft steps into the room.  
“Hello, Sherlock. You look...healthier than the last time I saw you. You’re clean, right?”  
“Oh what does that matter! It’s not up to you whether or not I’m using or not. I’m not your concern.”  
“Don’t waste my time, Sherlock. There are more pressing matters.” Mycroft hands Sherlock an envelope. “It’s all in there. The car is waiting.”  
“What is it now? Have you got another case for me?”  
“Sherlock. Car. Now.”  
“I’m very sorry sir, but we’re going to have to blindfold you,” a man in a dark suit informs Sherlock. He ties a dark cloth around the detective’s eyes.  
“Why do I have to wear this...thing and you don’t?” Sherlock demands of Mycroft.  
Mycroft smiles. “Perks of having a Level 5 security clearance, brother mine.”  
When Sherlock’s blindfold is finally removed, he is standing in a small, windowless room, dimly lit by naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. There are several high ranking military officers and a young couple in the room.  
“Who are you?” Sherlock asks them.  
“Arrrhhhh.” Mycroft makes a strangled sound. “Sherlock, meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Your Highnesses, this is my brother Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson.  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson,” Prince William says. His wife nods.  
“Hello, Duke, Duchess. What am I here for?” he yawns. “I don’t suppose I have time to have another hit, do I?” Sherlock remarks distractedly.  
“Sherlock, now is not the time!” Mycroft hisses. John glares at Sherlock.  
“All right, Mycroft, time to explain,” says John but Sherlock interrupts. “Ah no, actually. It’s my turn again,” he pauses.  
“Last night you were both up until 2 am...no make that 3am judging from those dark circles. Sir, you have a bit of a drinking habit, although we can’t let the public know that! Duchess, you’ve had compromising photos of you leaked. Obviously you have two children. People call them ‘cute’ and things like that. Something’s happened to them- they’ve been kidnapped. I don’t know why you’d call me here. You should really be speaking to the police or something. Oh that’s right, I do know why. Because everyone in Scotland yard is an idiot!” He takes a breath. “I believe I’m done. State your business.”  
The Duchess takes a shaky breath. “Well we- Will and I- had a very big formal dinner for the Prime Minister of India when our-our nanny...” Kate trails off and dabs a handkerchief to her eyes.  
“Our Nanny, she came down in a panic and told us our kids were missing,” finishes the Duke. “Our son’s 3 and our daughter is 1. We of course, excused ourselves from dinner and ran to help look for them, but Scotland Yard had already been summoned and they wouldn’t let us in the children’s rooms- they were investigating already. An....Inspector Lestrade, was it? Told us to call you to come help, but first put us in touch with your brother, Mycroft. Lestrade told us that they hadn’t found much to go on yet, but they had the surveillance videos.”  
“Oh not much to go on, eh? Those boys get stupider every damn day. Now continue, what was on the surveillance videos?” demands Sherlock.  
“Sherlock that was really quite rude,” hisses John.  
“The surveillance videos showed a woman who looks just like our nanny walking down all the halls and swiping her card to open all the doors. None of us know how this could’ve happened. We do extensive background checks on all of our employees and have all but ruled out it being an inside job. Also strange because the magnetic lock system that is on all the doors is supposed to be foolproof. And none of the people who have cards have lost them, and we don’t issue new ones for lost ones. Anyway, the woman in the video killed the two guards at the door of the children’s room, which is really weird because our nanny wouldn’t do that! And is seen entering and leaving our kids’ room with a laundry basket. After she left with the basket our kids were gone, so obviously they were kidnapped by her but no one knows how. Scotland Yard couldn’t find out how the woman opened the doors, who she is, or how she got in and out. You’ve got to help us, Mr. Holmes,” the Duke says.  
“Mmm. Sounds....interesting. Well, thanks for the little chat! This really was most interesting. Next time, call me before the police, and if I’m not busy, I’ll pop over for a chat. Now please, do excuse me because I am in desperate need of another hit- gah!”  
“Mr. Holmes! Please, you’ve got to help us!” whimpers the Duchess.  
“Yes, yes. I’ll be back tomorrow to do my investigating. It really is late,” says Sherlock, dismissing the plea with a wave of his hand  
“It’s 3 in the afternoon!” they exclaim.  
“Yes, exactly. It’s late. Bye now!” Sherlock smiles and walks out.  
“I am so, so, sorry,” says Mycroft, addressing the couple, and shaking his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock and John investigate at the palace.

******  
The next morning, Sherlock is in the kitchen examining the severed shriveled thumb that Rosie had taken a liking to under the microscope when he receives a text from Mycroft:

Time to investigate the palace. Car waiting. No blindfold this time, don't worry.

“John,” calls Sherlock, “leave Rosie with Mrs. Hudson. We're being summoned to investigate at the palace. Mycroft has a car waiting. Will you come?” he asks, stepping out into the hall. John hesitates, but Mary smiles at him.  
“Go!” she laughs, “you only get me out of your head when you have a case! Besides it'll be good for you!”  
“Yes, coming,” he says, thrusting Rosie into Mrs. Hudson’s arms and running out the door.  
Once in the waiting car, they are taken to the palace.  
“Right, then. Escort me in. And leave me to it, if you would. No interruptions, maybe,” demands Sherlock, getting out of the car, with John close behind  
“Yes, of course sir,” says the guard, leading him in.  
“Where should we start, John?” asks Sherlock.  
“Probably in the kid’s bedrooms, maybe the hallway next, see what we can find.”  
“Good,” says Sherlock, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.  
Sherlock disregards John’s previous statement and instead of the bedrooms, starts in the hallway. He spends a long time investigating the laundry chute, which goes from the hallway by the bedroom to the basement- because it’s big enough for a person to jump through, which is strange. He also looks at the smoke detectors, the windows, and the baseboards in the hall before doing the same in the children’s bedrooms.  
In the bedroom, just under the crib skirt of little Charlotte’s bed, Sherlock notices what looks to be something fuzzy, like a blanket. Reaching underneath, he draws the object out and finds children’s blankets. He sniffs, then tucks them in his coat when no one is looking for further testing.  
Sherlock also insists on examining the basement where the laundry chute comes out and notices that the window shows clear signs of being forced.  
Meanwhile, the M16 arrests a palace guard who apparently has ties to Pakistan, fitting the theory that this is the work of terrorists, and John gets a text from Lestrade:  
“Come to the police station- we have a job for you.”  
“In conclusion,” says Sherlock to no one in particular, “I believe that the kidnapper used a faked card of some sort so obviously he or she has some resources. This might be a difficult one for Scotland Yard to crack, but with M16 and me on it, I expect the children to be fine.” He pauses, expecting John’s response, which never comes and looks around in surprise. “Wait, where’s John?”  
“He left, Sherlock,” says Anderson, rolling his eyes. “You claim to notice EVERYTHING, but you miss the little things!”  
“Yes, well. You are a irrelevant bastard that only has the talent and brains to deduce and state the obvious. No one asked you to solve the case. Have a nice day,” retorts Sherlock, leaving the room. “Guards! Escort me to the car, I’ve done what I can.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John interviews the guard's girlfriend.

John takes a deep breath before he knocks on the door. Scotland Yard has given him the task of talking to the girlfriend of the arrested guard. They had said that they thought he might get more out of her since he wasn’t an official detective. In the station, that had sounded reasonable enough, but now that he actually has to do it, he isn’t so sure. 

He is only John Watson, a doctor who happens to be friends with a detective. He wasn’t trained to interrogate people, certainly wasn’t trained to deal with the girlfriend of a potential terrorist.  
“You’re working yourself up over nothing,” says Mary, leaning on the railing of the porch. “Go on, knock.” She smiles at him, making his heart ache.  
“You should be the one doing this,” he says out loud. “You’re trained to deal with dangerous people.”

The door is opened by a girl who looks to be about twenty years old.  
“Uhh… are you alright sir? Is there something I can help you with?” she asks John  
“Umm...yes,” John replies. “I want to talk to you for a few minutes if you don’t mind.”

“I know what the M16 think,” says the girl, who introduces herself as Kristen. She and John are sitting in her living room and she’s making him a cup of tea. “And it’s not true. My Muhammed is a good man. I know him, and he would never, ever, join a terrorist plot.” She sighs and John notices the dark circles under her eyes. Clearly the events of the past day have taken their toll on her.  
“What was the last time you saw him?”  
“Two days ago. He was going to take me out tonight though.”  
“Was he ever in financial trouble?”  
“No.”  
“Did he act differently over the last few weeks?”  
“No. Dr. Watson, please help me. You’ve no idea how much I love him. Like I said, he would never do what they’re accusing him of, and I know it’s tearing him apart to have people think that he did. Please sir, clear his name.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sherlock picks up the violin bow and draws it across the strings. The song he is playing suits his current state of mind; it’s moody and rather dramatic. But his playing is interrupted by the ringing of his phone.  
“Sherlock, where are you?” Mycroft’s irritation is plain to hear.  
“I’m playing violin, now go away, you’re interrupting,” Sherlock replies.  
“YOU’RE BACK AT BAKER STREET? AT A TIME LIKE TH---” Mycroft’s anger is cut off as Sherlock hangs up.  
“Where else should I be?” he says to himself, picking up the violin again.  
Mrs. Hudson walks in and turns on the telly. Sherlock glares at her.  
“Turn that...noise off.”  
“You may be a consulting detective, but this is my house, Sherlock Holmes,” she replies settling in to watch her favorite soap opera. “If you want quiet, go away!” Sherlock closes his eyes and tries to concentrate on his playing and ignore the soap opera star who is sobbing that “He doesn’t love me any more!” Suddenly there is static and the picture changes. There are about five men with black headscarves and turbans standing in a dimly lit room. They are carrying assault rifles and one is pointing his at a very frightened looking Prince George, who is standing in the middle of the room. The man who appears to be their leader stands and starts reading off a card.  
“We have captured Prince George and Princess Charlotte of England,” he says. “This is a lesson to the wicked, secular country of England. England, you have an important decision to make tonight: how much do you value these children? We plan on terminating them tomorrow. If you want to stop us, the Prime Minister must go on national television and announce that you are willing to pay 3 trillion pounds. We will be watching. You have twenty-four hours. Choose wisely.”  
The image of the terrorist clicks off, and switches to the nightly news. “The British nation has been rocked by the news that Prince George and Princess Charlotte have been kidnapped....”  
Mrs. Hudson lets out a gasping sob and Sherlock frowns.  
“Those poor little dears,” Mrs. Hudson moans with tears flowing. “Who would be so wicked to hurt them?” As Mrs. Hudson cries, a smoke alarm starts beeping. “Oh and that silly alarm won't shut up,” she adds. “I was going to ask you to change the batteries on it, Sherlock.” “Sherlock…….?” But Sherlock is staring into space, his violin bow sitting forgotten in his hands.  
“Smoke alarms,” he mumbles. “Smoke alarms…..”  
“What’s the matter Sherlock?” Mrs. Hudson demands.  
“Go away,” he replies, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. “I’m in my mind palace.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Right….here….stop,” says Lestrade. He and John are at Scotland Yard watching the video surveillance tapes from Kensington Palace again. “That’s where she swipes her card,” he continues. “Can you enlarge the image at all?”  
Sally shakes her head. “Sorry, but we’ve already enlarged it as much as we can.”  
Lestrade runs a hand through his hair. “It beats me how she did it,” he says. “Any ideas, John?”  
“None. I wish Sherlock were here. He said he had quote, “urgent business” to take care of. Which is, I’ll wager, watching crap telly with Mrs. Hudson. No matter how much Mycroft tries to tell him that this case is really serious, to Sherlock it’s still a game. And it’s not a game anymore.”

John’s rant about Sherlock is interrupted by his phone ringing. He answers it.  
“Doctor John Watson speaking.”  
“John? Hi, could you do me a favor?”  
“Sherlock? Is that you?”  
“Yes, and I need your help.”  
“What do you want me to do?”  
Sherlock sighs. “It’s complicated....you see, they’ve denied me bail since they think I might be dangerous.”  
“You’re in JAIL?” John is almost shrieking.  
“Don’t make that noise, it hurts my ears!”  
“What the bloody hell did you do?”  
“I broke into Kensington Palace.”  
John, at a loss for words, drops into the nearest chair.  
“You see, there was something that I needed to investigate and that was the best way. I didn’t want to go through all the hassle of getting in the official way again. Also, I’m sure Anderson and Donovan are still there and I really can’t handle being called freak again. Anyway, I want you to come down and visit me in jail. It’s about the case. Also, could you bring me more cocaine?”  
“No. No more cocaine.”  
Sherlock interrupts what is sure to be a rant about drugs to give John directions and then hangs up the phone before John can say anything else.


	6. Chapter 6

When John walks into Sherlock’s cell after being told by the guard that he can only have five minutes, the first thing that he notices is that Sherlock looks slightly disheveled, having not shaved that morning. Sherlock looks up.  
“Hello, John. You’re finally here,” is his curt greeting.   
“Yeah, I’m here” John says. “And you shouldn’t be. Would you kindly explain what it was that was so bloody important that it required that you break into Kensington Palace?  
“I needed another look at the evidence,” Sherlock replies. “I messed up the first time and missed the big clue. So brilliant, yet so simple! Whoever planned this kidnapping, they even fooled me. Not permanently, of course, but still. Impressive.”  
“If you’re interested,” John says crossing his arms, “Your arrest has made you quite famous. I had to push through about twenty reporters to get in here.”  
“I’m not interested. Stupid stuff like fame gets in the way of one’s ability to reason.”  
“Well, anyway, what did you find in Kensington? I sure hope it’s worth all this.”  
“It is, but it’s not necessary to tell you about it right now.”  
“Sherlock!”  
“No seriously, there are people all around here and I wouldn’t want anything I say to get back to the kidnapper.”  
“All right, your five minutes are up,” an officer says walking into the cell.  
“Thanks for coming, John.” Sherlock clasps his friend’s hand and presses a piece of paper into his palm.   
When John has pushed his way through the reporters and is safely seated in a taxi, he unfolds the piece of paper. It is a receipt for a rental car. John smiles.   
“He’s found a lead on the kidnapper and now it’s up to you to find them,” Mary says from the seat next to him.


	7. Chapter 7

“Yes, this car was rented out six days ago,” the man behind the counter at the rental car agency says.   
“Who was it borrowed by?” John asks  
“Let’s see….it says here the name was Sara Falkington.”  
“What about the licence plate?”  
“LD38 KQN”  
“Thanks so much for your help.” John scribbles the number down on a piece of paper and hurries out of the store, dialing his phone as he walks.  
“Lestrade, this is John Watson calling. I’ve got the licence plate number of the kidnapper’s car and now I need Scotland Yard to find it. Put your best men on the job, because we’re on the clock.”


	8. Chapter 8

“You have five hours.” The terrorists have hacked into the nightly news that John is watching and the scene is the same as before, except that there is now less time. A lot less time. As the terrorists are explaining that the British people have to pay 3 trillion pounds or lose their future king, John’s phone rings.   
“John Watson speaking, who’s calling?”  
“Hi John, this is Mycroft. Listen, Scotland Yard found the car.”  
“That’s great! Did they find the missing prince and princess too?”   
“No, but wait. They found fingerprints on the steering wheel and they’ve discovered who our suspect is. Her real name is Naomi Howell, and she’s been involved in all sorts of dirty business. She used to be a royal marine and now she uses those skills for all sorts of bad things. She’s a dangerous woman, John, and a hard one to catch. That’s why I’ve been talking to the Prime Minister and I’ve arranged to have my little brother released from jail. He wants you to meet him in the parking lot in half an hour to look at the car.”  
“Will do. Thanks, Mycroft,” says John, hanging up.


	9. Chapter 9

“Sherlock,” John greets his friend as they arrive at the parking lot. “It’s good to see you...um not in jail.”  
“Skip the pleasantries, John,” snaps Sherlock. “We’ve got work to do.”  
“We couldn’t find anything in the car, sir,” a police officer tells them, gesturing to the small white sedan that has crime scene tape wrapped all around it.   
“I’ll decide that for myself,” Sherlock says, yanking down the tape.   
Sherlock feels the seats and examines the car thoroughly. Finally he stands up and walks around the parking lot, his lips pursed.  
“We’ve searched all the nearby buildings sir,” the police officer says. “We found nothing.”   
“She went somewhere, but where?” Sherlock is really worked up now, pacing back and forth like a restless dog. He walks around the parking lot several times before he suddenly stops and says “Ahhh.”  
“What?” asks a puzzled Dr. Watson, who can see nothing particularly interesting.   
“This,” replies Sherlock, tapping his foot on a manhole. “Help me lift it off please.”  
Sure enough, the top lifts off and John is climbing down into a dark tunnel. When they get to the bottom, Sherlock puts a finger to his lips and starts walking left. John now sees that they are walking in the underground, next to the rails in fact. The thought of a train coming makes him nervous.   
Sherlock is muttering under his breath as he walks.  
“Five feet….ten feet….fifteen feet….” When he gets to thirty, he stops and presses his head against the brick wall. He smiles and gestures for John to follow him as he heads back the way they’ve come.   
“Call the police and tell them to send SWAT,” Sherlock whispers as they walk back. “I’ve found where the Prince and Princess are.”


	10. Chapter 10

When Sherlock and John get back to the parking lot, they find Princess Kate and Prince William waiting for them as well as Mycroft, Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, and the SWAT team that is going to go rescue the children.  
“So Sherlock, while we are all here, how about you fill us in on how the children were kidnapped and how you cracked the case,” asks Lestrade, after Sherlock tells SWAT where to go.  
“I’d better start from the beginning,” says Sherlock. “You remember how I examined the palace? I figured out right away that the way the kidnapper had gotten in and out of the palace was the laundry chute. What I missed was the big clue, how she opened all the doors. It wasn’t until I got back to 221B and Mrs. Hudson started pestering me to change the batteries in our smoke alarm that I realized the truth; there was something off about the smoke alarms in the palace. That’s why I broke back in for a second look. I discovered that they were in fact electromagnets merely disguised as smoke alarms. They must have been installed some time ago. I know that you have had lots of repairs done on the palace recently, William and Kate.” (Mycroft opens his mouth to tell off Sherlock for calling the Duke and Duchess by their first names, then closes it again because Sherlock doesn't care anyway.) “That's when they must have been installed.” Sherlock continues: “When she broke in, the card the kidnapper swiped was a fake, what was really opening the doors was the remote she used to turn on and off the electromagnets. The plan was simple but brilliant: the electromagnets messed up the lock system.”  
“But how did you figure out who the kidnapper was and where she was hiding?” Lestrade asks.  
“That was partly luck. When I was looking at the smoke alarms, I remembered the children’s blankets, and realized I’d better test them and try to find out what drug the kidnapper used to knock them out. I found a rental car receipt in one the folds of one of the blankets earlier, and after I was arrested I gave it to John, who tracked down the car which brings us here. When Scotland Yard ran the fingerprints that were on the steering wheel, the found that we are dealing with none other than Naomi Howell, who has been linked to various unusual crimes before. She’s also an ex-marine, which is probably why she was able to break into the palace so easily and take out the guards. When I looked at this parking lot, I knew that she had to have hidden the children somewhere close by, otherwise she would have kept the car. Since Scotland Yard had searched all the nearby buildings, I was at a loss until I saw the manhole. I noticed that the bolts holding it down had been removed. Conclusion: someone had been using it. It was just a hunch at first, but after John and I got down into the underground I knew I was right. I have made a small study of London’s underground, which is on my website “The Science of Deduction,” if anyone cares to read it. I knew that in the early 1900’s a new route was started but not finished and it crossed this line halfway between two certain stations. So I measured my steps until I came to where I guessed it to be, and sure enough, when I put my ear against the wall, I heard the voices of Naomi Howell and her partners in crime. On our way out John called the police and here we are. And it looks like they’re here.” Sherlock gestured to the SWAT team that was climbing out of the manhole holding a struggling, handcuffed Naomi Howell.  
Princess Kate half sobs as she runs over to her children, whom the police are carrying. Prince William is right behind her and they kneel on the ground hugging the children and crying. Watching them, John feels his own eyes grow moist. The touching scene is shattered however, when Naomi starts hurling foul words at the family.  
“Fuck you all and your bloody family,” she yells at the top of her lungs. Horrified, the policemen holding her clap their hands over her mouth, but not before she screams: “You killed my Robert!”  
“No, let her talk.” Sherlock strides over and orders the police. “We may get valuable information out of her. I have already figured it out, but I want to hear it from her.” The police remove their hands from her mouth, with a guilty glance at the small children.  
“Why did you do this?” Sherlock asks Naomi.  
“I wanted to hurt them,” she replies. “I wanted to hurt the fucking royals because they hurt me. Harry, he killed my fiance Robert. Robert served under him in Afghanistan and Harry left him on the battlefield to die while he flew away nice and safe.”  
“So, you joined a crime organization with the goal of getting your messed up revenge,” says Sherlock.  
“That’s right,” Naomi snaps.  
“Crime organization?” Lestrade says blankly. “I thought we were dealing with terrorists?”  
“Oh yes, of course, I forgot to explain that,” says Sherlock. “That’s the problem with being brilliant; you forget that everyone else isn’t. I knew that the whole terrorism thing was a sham from the moment I saw those guns that they had on telly. They were as fake as the rest of the get up. I’m sure you didn’t notice Lestrade, but they had no safety or scopes. Nothing but theater props.”  
“If it’s not terrorists, then what is it?” asks Lestrade. “You mentioned something about a crime organization.” Sherlock nods slowly.  
“That’s been the hardest part to figure out and I still haven’t cracked it. I have reason to believe that Ms. Howell is part of a nefarious crime web. For a long time I’ve noticed that many crimes seem to have some central force that connects them, some invisible hand moving the chess pieces. But discovering that central mastermind, that's a whole other mystery and one I’m going to solve. The game is on!”


End file.
